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Smallpox Vaccine

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether during the negotiations for the smallpox vaccine contract he was informed of which company was to manufacture the smallpox vaccine should Powderject be awarded the contract. [67541]

Mr. Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Lewes (Mr. Baker) on 3 July 2002, Official Report, column 454W.

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether Powderject has guaranteed that the smallpox vaccine to be supplied by them will be free of BSE. [67539]

Mr. Hutton: The smallpox vaccine to be supplied by Powderject is not manufactured using bovine cell culture. If a manufacturer wished to produce smallpox vaccine using virus culture in bovine cells, the appropriate regulatory guidance on cell characterisation and storage would have to be followed.

European legislation demands that an application for marketing authorisation of a medicinal product in the European Union must include satisfactory demonstration of compliance with the European Note for Guidance on

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minimising the risk of transmitting animal spongiform encephalopathy agents via human and veterinary medicinal products.

Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices in the United States. [70256]

Ms Blears: An official from the Department is a liaison member of the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices in the United States and attends some of their meetings.

Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the application to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation of the open principles of Government. [70249]

Ms Blears: The working practices of the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation (JCVI) have been influenced by the office of science and technology (OST) code of practice for scientific committees. The committee members are aware of the recommendations of the OST code of practice. Lists of members and their declarations of interest, and minutes of meetings are posted on the website at www.doh.gov.uk/jcvi/index.htm members are recruited to the JCVI in line with guidelines laid down by the commissioner for public appointments.

Rubella Vaccine

Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department had with Glaxo SmithKline about their decision to cease production of single rubella vaccine. [70292]

Ms Blears: Glaxo Smithkline informed officials in the Department that a decision had been taken by the company at a global level to stop production of single rubella vaccine. This information was unsolicited.

Pneumococcal Vaccination

Dr. Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has conducted into the effects an over-65 age recommendation for pneumococcal vaccination would have on the health of people in Wyre Forest. [70223]

Ms Blears: The Department asked the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) an independent expert advisory group, to review all available data on the use of this vaccine and report back. The costs and benefits of changing this policy are currently being considered.

Dr. Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many over-65 year olds have received the pneumococcal vaccination in Wyre Forest in the past five years. [70224]

Ms Blears: Information on age breakdown of those receiving pneumococcal vaccine is not available.

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MMR Vaccines

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with management of Glaxo Smithkline about production of component vaccines of MMR. [71095]

Ms Blears [holding answer 17 July 2002]: Glaxo Smithkline informed officials that a decision had been taken by the company at a global level to stop production of single rubella vaccine. This information was unsolicited.

School Nursing Service

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2002, Official Report, column 1114W, on the School Nursing Service, what steps he is taking to encourage primary care trusts to increase the number of school nurses. [71037]

Ms Blears [holding answer 18 July 2002]: We recognise the importance of the school nursing contribution to improving the health of children and young people and have taken forward a three-year development programme to strengthen their role.

It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to determine the school-nursing workforce they require to meet the health needs of the local population. However, lessons from the national development programme are being disseminated to help PCTs develop school nursing services as effectively as possible to improve school age health and deliver on priority areas such as nutrition, smoking cessation and teenage pregnancy.

Since 1997 we have increased the number of nurses working in the National Health Service by over 30,000. We intend to boost their numbers by a further 35,000 by 2008, increasing the available workforce from which school nurses can be drawn.

An extra £100,000 has recently been made available on top of the existing national campaigns to support recruitment; retention and return to practice in primary care including school nursing. Whilst we do not collect data on the numbers of nurses working in the school health service, training establishments show a year on year increase in the number of commissions for specialist school nurse training.

The children's national service framework (NSF) currently being developed will look at the role school nurses can play in delivering improved services to children, young people and their families. The NSF team is working closely with the children's care group workforce team to review the workforce implications of the NSF standards and ensure that workforce-related recommendations are achievable.

Patient Deregistrations

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the recommendations of the University of Sheffield report on patient deregistrations from GP lists. [65725]

Mr. Hutton: The Sheffield University Report was published earlier this year and its recommendations are making a valuable contribution to our developing policy on patient choice, rights and responsibilities.

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GPs

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs have benefited from the Golden Hello Scheme since November 2001. [47845]

Mr. Hutton: The National Health Service golden hello scheme was introduced in November 2001. All new general practitioners taking up their first post in the NHS from 1 April 2001 are eligible for the scheme.

To date, the Department has received over 1100 applications to the scheme. We will continue to monitor take up and keep the scheme under review.

General Practitioners

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to (a) cut the workload of general practitioners and (b) increase their pay. [72043]

Mr. Hutton: New mechanisms that will enable general practitioners to vary their workload according to the income to which they aspire are set out in the new general medical services contract framework, which has been accepted by the profession. The Government is committed to investment in return for the delivery of higher quality, and a wider range, of primary services.

GP Golden Hello

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the NHS GP Golden Hello scheme. [62653]

Mr. Hutton: The National Health Service golden hello scheme was introduced in November 2001. All new general practitioners taking up their first post in the NHS from 1 April 2001 are eligible for the scheme.

To date, the Department has received over 1100 applications to the scheme. We will continue to monitor take up and keep the scheme under review.

Graduates

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the incentives available to encourage graduates to enter the National Health Service. [64335]

Mr. Hutton: The Government is implementing a range of measures to improve recruitment and retention of all staff, including graduates. These include improving terms and conditions, encouraging the National Health Service to become a better employer through the Improving Working Lives and Positively Diverse programmes and developing better career pathways further information on improving working lives is available at www.doh.gov.uk/iwl. This approach is working. Applications to nursing and medical training are increasing. A scheme for graduate entrants to medical school is developing well.

The NHS general management scheme has for the past two years been rated the second most popular scheme for graduates seeking a career in general management. The NHS finance scheme has this year been rated 8 in the finance sector. Whilst the starting salary offered to graduate trainees is slightly below the median for all graduate recruiters, the starting salary in 2002 will be

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£17,800 compared with a median of £19,000 across all sectors, the overall package offered to graduate trainees is worth around £30,000. This includes:
annual performance award of up to 6 per cent. of salary;
fully funded course of professional study, leading to a recognised qualification in finance or management;
personal development programme;
on-going development programme on completion of the scheme;
NHS pension scheme;
provision of laptop computer.

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